Second Darkness
by Torlek
Summary: As Amara continued to be family again with Chuck, during the events of Back At The Bar, she stepped out of her comfort zone and learned how to create. She created not just any creation, but the most powerful created being in existence, with the intent of replacing Death. The new creation fulfills that mandate, but develops other ideas, as well. (AU follow-up to Season 11)
1. Lesser Darkness

_The original story for this sequel, Back At The Bar, is not yet complete. I just thought of getting the ball rolling on an original character's development inside and especially outside the Bar._

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural. For this story, I own only one original character.**

* * *

 **Lesser Darkness**

A dark cloud and divine light are situated in a bar outside of time. The former had summoned a portion of something abundant, the primordial basis of dark matter.

From the dark cloud, a feminine voice could be heard, declaring, "Let there be a Lesser Darkness, a Dark Herald."

Another dark essence was taking form, absorbing power, and assimilating insight. Slowly but surely, this would become a new being.

The moment had come. The new dark essence came into being as a dark cloud and as a feminine entity, like the original one, and also as the undisputed most powerful created being to ever exist. The objective preternatural insight came onto its own surely, if unevenly.

In the beginning, there was only the original dark cloud: the Darkness. At some point, there came into existence the divine light: God. Despite the gap in power, they not only treated each other as equals, but they were family; the former loved the latter and the latter loved the former.

Later, the younger entity developed an ego, needed something else that wasn't the older entity, and yet hoped that there could exist beings better than they. Thus, God created whole universes, only for the Darkness to destroy each of them in jealousy and misunderstanding. Eventually, there existed a rift between the two primordial entities, such that the Creator, not being as powerful as the Destroyer, created additional primordial beings to fight the latter in a terrible war.

Then came the end of that war, with the Darkness having been tricked by one of the created primordial beings, tricked into being sealed away barely by the other primordial entities, including God. With this, Creation could go on unimpeded, while the Destroyer obsessed with how to make the Creator suffer for this trickery.

Revenge would come.

Through unintentional human activity, the Darkness was released, eventually drawing a response from God. Like in that terrible war, the Creator used whatever intelligent advantage was available, only to be fatally wounded by the more powerful Destroyer. Through intentional human activity, the latter entity healed the former fully, and the two entities began the long, arduous road of reconciling, teleporting together across all manner of space and time in the process.


	2. Dark Herald

**Dark Herald**

The new dark essence continued to absorb the objective preternatural insight.

Now reconciled fully, the Darkness and God moved on to share insights on the demise of one known as Death. This primordial being had been as powerful as the combined power of those more commonly known as the Archangels. However, for all his power, this winged one's very own weapon and one impulsive human had done him in.

Death had to be replaced, but by a more powerful and wingless being, one who could not be banished or bound except by the two divine entities, and one whose life force could not be extinguished by an inanimate weapon. For this replacement to succeed, one mightier than four or more times the most powerful Archangel had to be created. For this replacement to have that much power, the being had to emerge from the abundant primordial basis of dark matter. For this replacement's life force to not be extinguished except by the two divine entities, part of it had to be dispersed from the onset into the very fabric of the primordial basis of dark matter.

With such emergence, the being would be able to fulfill another purpose: distracting the Archangels, and perhaps other beings of lesser power, from resuming their combat and trickery against its dark creator. With all that power at its disposal, the being would be more than capable of not just distracting them, but dominating them. Thus, it was resolved to create the Lesser Darkness, the Dark Herald.

As other aspects of the insight were absorbed, the lesser dark cloud and feminine entity identified the Darkness as her mother and God as her uncle. She observed the former assume a human female form and the latter assume a human male form. The thought of mimicking them crossed her mind.

The new dark essence then followed suit, imitating her mother to the point of assuming the same adult female form as hers. Afterwards, she summoned her first words.

"Mother… Uncle…" she uttered.

"My creation is good," her mother smiled.

The Lesser Darkness perceived instantly the pride that the oldest, strongest entity, her dark creator, had in this belated creation.


	3. Image Of The Darkness And God

**Image Of The Darkness And God**

As the new dark essence continued to gain insight, she became quite fascinated about the species of the one who killed Death.

As God created, he remained mindful of the fundamental balance underpinning all of Creation, that of light and dark. Despite the terrible war, he had an image in his mind, which he wanted to realize as a tribute to the Darkness. Because his Archangels and other angels could never have the balance represented by this image, the dual image of his sister and himself, he used that image to create all men and all women. During and since the creation of humanity, he never disclosed anything about this dual image to anyone.

Upon the creation of humanity, the Creator asked his Archangels and other angels to love the new creations more than himself. All but one of the Archangels merely bowed down to them; he should have known better than to ask the utterly impossible. The fourth had been corrupted by the very Mark used to imprison the Destroyer, and so refused to even bow down to them. A violent conflict in Heaven erupted, resulting in the imprisonment of this fourth Archangel.

Meanwhile, humanity itself would, independent from the Mark, perpetrate the great moral evil before the Flood. Much later on, humanity itself would, again independently, perpetrate the death and destruction under the Mongol conquests, the colonial atrocities, the Armenian genocide, the Holocaust, the killing fields, and other episodes of mass losses of human life.

Nonetheless, humanity had to be credited for much good, as well. God was even told to his countenance that humans were better than he, as they gave, created, loved, and persisted, among other deeds.

Absorbing all this, the Lesser Darkness used her telepathic abilities to ask her mother about the latter's interest, or lack thereof, in this creative twist.

 _Mother, what was your reaction upon learning this?_

 _To put it mildly, dear, I chewed your Uncle out on so many levels when I learned of this. My looks terrified him, while my tongue and telepathic thoughts terrified him even more. How did I put one point? Oh, yes: The use of my likeness without my permission was very much an involuntary donor-assisted creation! How did I put another point? Oh, yes: God played with uncontrolled darkness like fire, and got burned proverbially by the human tragedies!_


	4. Wise Emanation

**Wise Emanation**

The new dark essence continued to ponder about the nature of humanity, which she had just learned. The Lesser Darkness also continued to exchange thoughts telepathically with her mother, the Darkness, on the subject.

 _Mother, a thought came to my mind: If those four sons of Uncle's, and the other angels, could never have the intended balance represented by the dual image of you and Uncle, does the same apply to me?_

 _To be forthright about it, my dear, the answer to your question is yes. To put this into perspective: Because they are beings of light, they are incompatible with this balance. Likewise, because you are of the primordial basis of dark matter, you are incompatible with this balance._

 _I am the Lesser Darkness._

 _You are who you are because I created you as such. I am nothing less than proud of you because of this, not in spite of this!_

 _And I am proud to have you as my mother! May I ask you one small favour about this?_

 _My dear, I won't make the similar mistake of asking you to love humanity more than me, if that is what you are asking._

 _That is all I ask, Mother._

 _But I will ask you to give humanity the same level of respect I've come around to give them. Be better than your cousins!_

 _Done!_

The new dark essence resolved not to let her mother down on this, all the while observing the latter turning her attention towards a compliment from God, her uncle.

Not long after, her mother turned to her once more.

"Have you decided upon a name for your physical form?" asked the former.

Instinctively, the new dark essence wanted a name associated with all the objective preternatural insight she had absorbed and with the insights she had just developed. She considered names associated with knowledge or with understanding, but her insights were far greater than that. She considered names associated with wisdom, but found them either too conventional or too exotic. A name came to her attention, one not associated with wisdom but including the exact same pulmonic consonants as one name associated with wisdom.

"Sefira," she uttered, "For I am a wise emanation."

"Very well, Sefira," acknowledged the Darkness, "Henceforth your purpose is to enforce the Natural Order. You have become Death."

The Lesser Darkness nodded.


	5. Instruments Of The Darkness: Abilities

**Instruments Of The Darkness: Abilities**

The being who named herself Sefira witnessed her mother in conversation with her uncle. Instinctively, the Lesser Darkness knew that her presence was still needed.

 _My dear, I have some things to give you before you go off and about._

 _And I await them, Mother._

"Behold Sefira," declared the Darkness, raising her hand at the new dark essence. The latter was amazed upon seeing on her body an amulet necklace, an arm ring on each upper arm, and a ring on each ring finger.

"Each piece is an Instrument of the Darkness," introduced the eldest entity.

The youngest being focused her thoughts on some of each instrument's abilities, abilities which she had already in her inherent being. For example, she noted that the inherent power negation could inhibit the short- to medium-range use of any Hand of God or of any Tablet of the Word of God; her mother would not allow any created being to use such a trinket against her. Turning to restoration, she noted the ability to resurrect any celestial being other than an Archangel. Turning next to conjuration, she considered the ability to create pocket dimensions or pocket universes; instinctively, she knew that this was a very strategic ability, but its methodical use would have to be evaluated later.

"Like you innately, each piece can obliterate any immediate cousin of yours in an instant, or any spiritual realm, before requiring a protracted recharge," described her mother.

Sefira knew she already had these abilities in her inherent being, yet was awestruck at what they implied: the pervasive fear of the use of such force, rather than the forceful abilities themselves, would enhance her inherently terrifying power. She considered the instruments' higher abilities not mentioned by her mother but inherent already in her being. For instance, she noted the ability to exorcise any created being, even an immediate cousin of hers, from any other created being's body – an ability she shared with her mother. For all those abilities, however, the new dark essence wondered whether using any of the unspoken higher abilities would also require a protracted recharge.

All those matters considered, the Lesser Darkness continued to reflect upon how her inherent being was at least four times mightier than the most powerful Archangel, and that it had just been augmented by power that was five times mightier than the same Archangel.


	6. Instruments Of The Darkness: Esoterica

**Instruments Of The Darkness: Esoterica**

Sefira just finished considering each instrument's higher abilities, whether mentioned by her mother or not. The Lesser Darkness then turned her thoughts to more esoteric matters.

The new dark essence gave first and foremost consideration to the more esoteric abilities of the instruments. These ranged from the ones that required the use of three instruments simultaneously to the ones that required almost all her inherent being and the use of all five instruments simultaneously. She was in awe of the fact that the latter abilities had been, until now, ones exclusive to the Darkness, her mother, and to God, her uncle.

For instance, she knew she would have to learn much more about manipulating time across all Creation to almost, just almost, a standstill. This was no small ability, being far more intensive than merely hastening herself and negating similar abilities of particular created beings throughout Creation. Upon considering the esoteric abilities that required almost all her being and the use of all five instruments, she appreciated the preciousness of those very instruments.

"Each piece is designed to be used by you alone," her mother gave her assurance.

Truly, Sefira thought, no instrument of such power could be entrusted to other created beings. Thinking far ahead, however, she became concerned that such lesser beings would make attempts to destroy any Instrument of the Darkness that came into their possession through some truly random circumstances. She then wondered about how to motivate such lesser beings towards not damaging such an instrument. Should any be lost and found somehow, she needed the custodian to take care of it, to the utmost of personal desire, until she recovered it.

"On top of that," added her mother, "each piece may be recharged instantaneously by me or by drawing upon the abundant primordial basis of dark matter. Use, recharge, and reuse the Instruments wisely."

While reflecting upon this, a possibility entered the thoughts of the new dark essence: that each instrument could be made to be recharged instantaneously by other means. She entertained this possibility briefly, before preparing to express her utmost gratitude to her mother.

"Thank you, Mother," acknowledged the Lesser Darkness.

The Darkness then declared, "This is good."


	7. Grimmer Reapers

**Grimmer Reapers**

Sefira found herself in a void. Her mother, the Darkness, had enjoined her, the Lesser Darkness, to introduce herself to the Reapers, then dismissed her by teleporting her out of the Bar. Upon entering the void, the new dark essence took to her true form of a dark cloud.

All around her, countless thousands of her prospective servants approached with grim apprehension.

"Who are you, stranger?" asked one.

"How did you find our home base?" snapped another.

"Why are you here?" inquired a third.

"Answer us!" demanded a fourth, who prepared for an escalated confrontation. Others followed suit.

"Why, I have replaced Death," the dark cloud answered meekly, to the disgust of those around her, "and I have come to summon your allegiance."

"You are not Death, intruder," retorted one.

"We do not suffer those who are not of us to enter this domain," stated another, to exclamations of approval by others.

"Let alone command our allegiance," added a third.

The new dark essence summoned her wits.

"Not even the Darkness or God?" she teased.

"They are exceptions," conceded one.

"But even they do not command our allegiance," cautioned another.

"And you," spat a third, "are neither God nor the Darkness."

"So what does that make you?" snarled a fourth.

The most powerful created being in existence noted their ordering of the two primordial entities, and became determined to change that.

"But I am the Lesser Darkness, the Dark Herald," she identified herself, "and if you will allow me to explain myself and avoid an unnecessary confrontation, I will gladly appease your grim apprehension."

"You had better!" threatened one.

"I'm so looking forward to this," expressed another.

"This had better be worth our time away from reaping souls," suspired a third, to exclamations of approval by others.

"And it will," the dark cloud assured them, before assuming the human form of Sefira once again.

Slowly, but surely, the Lesser Darkness explained to the Reapers the relevant purposes behind her own creation, determined to win their allegiance over when all was said and done.


	8. Pagan Sacrificial Abominations

**Pagan Sacrificial Abominations**

As Sefira continued her narrative with her prospective servants, she found herself enjoined telepathically. The Lesser Darkness attended to the entity on the other side, who was none other than her mother, the Darkness.

 _My dear, your Uncle and I just had a discussion about the billions of that existing pagan crop who dare to call themselves deities._

 _Mother, I am in the middle of trying to win over the Reapers._

 _You have the mental power to do that with ease, while listening to what I must say._

 _Very well._

 _I would not be briefing you this very moment had those self-declared deities settled upon harnessing the ability to absorb the very real power generated by mass worship. Since ancient times, they have demanded and absorbed human sacrifices as a means of obtaining greater power. Not only have they really cheated, but their continued actions in this regard are an abomination!_

 _Let me guess: Because all men and all women were created in the dual image of you and Uncle?_

 _That is correct. I expressed to your Uncle my surprise at these beings not feeding on humanity en masse the moment their pagan time under the sun came to an end. Even during the setup for the aborted Apocalypse, these beings did not reemerge with desperate determination._

 _I think I already know what it is you wish me to do. First, however, I would like to, as the humans themselves say, play devil's advocate._

 _I am all ears, my child._

 _Must the abstainers be swept away along with the perpetrators?_

 _Once the multiverse has run its physical course, I must be its indiscriminate destroyer. However, we are in the here and now, and nowhere near that future._

 _Thank you for your appreciation, as well as your unmatched patience. What about the many half-breeds, then, each being half human and half pagan deity?_

 _Their inability to perform this abomination has, fortunately for them, rendered them irrelevant for our purposes._

Not content with that answer, the Lesser Darkness determined to escalate her playing devil's advocate.


	9. Devil's Advocate

**Devil's Advocate**

Sefira prepared to continue playing devil's advocate in relation to her mother, while dealing with the Reapers. Furthermore, the Lesser Darkness still pondered about the power generated by, and transferred during, mass worship.

 _Will you, the Darkness, not remain stronger than God? There must exist tens of thousands of benevolent pagan deities who have at least abstained from this abomination, if not considered the harnessing you mentioned earlier! Will you not, for their sake, spare their respective pantheons and realms from my hand?_

 _Truly, my dear, you are a wise emanation beyond your years! Quite some time ago, your Uncle told me an ancient story of a mortal who had the guts to challenge his very character, in this very manner. Let us see if you can outdo that mortal, your character dealing with mine._

 _Well, Mother, what is your answer?_

 _Very well: On account of these tens of thousands of benevolent pagan deities you speak of, shall I pardon the rest of their respective pantheons. On their select account, shall you refrain from destroying their respective realms and reaping any of their inhabitants._

 _Now, I am but a created being, yet I wish to continue: What if these tens of thousands of benevolent pagan deities were to lack thousands, or even hundreds? Will you direct my hand against their realms and colleagues, for want of those thousands or hundreds?_

 _Congratulations, Sefira! Your ratio of abstainers to perpetrators is definitively lower than that of the ancient mortal! Very well: On account of these thousands, shall I pardon the rest of their respective pantheons, and shall you refrain in a similarly respective manner._

 _I venture again to ask of you, Mother: What if there are only hundreds of benevolent pagan deities in all their midst?_

 _Then, my answer is likewise._

 _Truly, your patience remains stronger than Uncle's: What if there are only dozens of benevolent pagan deities in all their midst?_

 _Then, my answer is likewise._

 _One final time…_

 _I am listening._

 _What if there is only one benevolent pagan deity in all their midst?_

 _Congratulations for surpassing the ancient mortal absolutely! Indeed, on account of such individual, shall I pardon his or her pantheon only, and shall you refrain from their realm only._

 _You remain stronger than Uncle! Let those pantheons with no benevolent pagan deities tremble!_

With that, the Lesser Darkness had played devil's advocate successfully.


	10. Changes In Realms

**Changes In Realms**

Sefira had just finished impressing her mother with her advocacy skills. However, the Lesser Darkness was not finished with her thoughts on the power generated by, and transferred during, mass worship. Her mother, the Darkness, read her thoughts on the matter.

 _My dear, your continued thoughts about harnessing the ability to absorb the real power generated by mass worship still preoccupy you?_

 _Perhaps too much, I should admit._

 _You are, without question, independent of that power, such that neither your inherent being nor the Instruments of the Darkness can be enhanced by it. Please refocus your thoughts upon our discussion._

 _Yes, Mother._

 _Now, about any pantheon with no pagan deities benevolent enough to abstain from demanding and absorbing human sacrifices…_

 _I will destroy any such pantheon and related realm._

 _Reap the former and cast it into the Bottomless Pit, actually. Destroy the latter._

 _Bottomless Pit?_

 _Monster souls no longer inhabit Purgatory. They have all been transferred to this next creation of mine, a supermassive abyss made out of only a portion of the abundant primordial basis of dark matter. Inhabitants of this realm are always subject to its pull, a pull so immense that not even physical light itself can escape. They are always exposed to the most exotic form of light raining down upon them. They are always stretched vertically and compressed horizontally, into very long and very thin shapes. However, they are positioned to see all of Creation in one small patch of their view, including everything behind the core of the Bottomless Pit itself._

 _Only you could create a black hole that defies all logic: a supermassive region with an inescapable pull, vertical stretching and horizontal compression that neither tear things apart nor torture them, and constant exposure to the deadliest form of light that neither fries nor torments._

 _On another note: Your Uncle has renovated Purgatory itself, so that it now meets the human need for purification of souls in their afterlife._

 _What impact will the second change have upon the flow of human souls?_

 _He and I will discuss it sometime in the future, and you will be informed promptly._

Both changes were great enough for the Lesser Darkness to pause her discussion and reflect upon them.


	11. To Reap Pagan Deities

**To Reap Pagan Deities**

Sefira continued to contemplate the changes in realms that she was informed of telepathically. The Lesser Darkness also contemplated the details of her reaping of pagan pantheons, while resuming the discussion with her mother, the Darkness.

 _Understood, Mother. In the meantime, I will contemplate these changes after our discussion. Returning to the targeted pagan pantheons, you told me to reap them and cast them into the Bottomless Pit._

 _Indeed, my dear, and you must confront them alone._

 _May I ask: Why me alone?_

 _As I mentioned earlier, these beings did not mass-feed upon humanity with desperate determination just before the aborted Apocalypse. If your Uncle, his angels, or even the demons were to move directly against them, they will countermove like a desperate kidnapper moving to murder his hostages. Your very own Reapers are a known quantity, as well._

 _And yourself, Mother?_

 _I do not know how much of my reputation has preceded me, across Creation, during my quest for revenge. Speaking of personal reputation, your Uncle suggested that you research these pantheons and, where applicable, pose as each pantheon's pseudo-primordial chaos deity._

 _Can you, at least, give a brief generalization of these pseudo-deities before I research them?_

 _Well, Sefira, they tend to precede the main deities of their respective pantheons, and they were vanquished by the main deities before the direct creation events of pagan myths. The latter made no attempts to reason with the former, and some of the former were not above attempting infanticide in order to preserve their authority._

 _Since these pseudo-deities of chaos were vanquished accordingly, they were in no position to demand or absorb human sacrifices as a means of obtaining greater power._

 _I know your line of thinking, but if you use these beings as drones, your targets will become too curious about you._

 _Very well. It is unfortunate that they will never experience being vanquished by a true chaos deity, let alone one mightier than, more powerful than, stronger than G-…_

 _Your long-winded enthusiasm for me was unnecessary, my dear. As for these primitive pantheons, they have incompetently maintained no distinction between nothingness and the primordial basis of dark matter. Surely, the most powerful created being should more than suffice!_

"Mother, your will be done across all Creation, as it is throughout all of existence," mumbled the Lesser Darkness within earshot of the Reapers.


	12. State Of The Reapers

**State Of The Reapers**

After Sefira was briefed by her mother, she turned her attention to the Reapers, who in turn stared at her. The Lesser Darkness had to explain what she had just mumbled.

"Now that I have explained my background," she began, "do pardon me for my irrelevant mumbling regarding my mother."

"Now that you have explained yourself, I'd like to salute you for coming here at the right time," commended a Reaper.

"Don't get us wrong: Death was our boss, but he paid too much attention to his vision of the natural order that he neglected the conditions of our ranks," grumbled another.

"For example, we have no counter against possession by the most powerful demons," explained a third.

"Except by swarming them," added a fourth.

"You will gain our allegiance if you can improve our ranks," offered a fifth.

The most powerful created being in existence raised her hands, signalling for the Reapers to cease momentarily their complaints. Were she to depart at this moment to reap the pagan deities, no improvements will have been made for her new subjects. She decided to delay her departure until she implemented her improvements, but she would have to think systematically of the improvements to be made.

It was decided: Being a relatively new being, her first act for the Reapers was to resurrect, effortlessly, every deceased Reaper. This served as both a gesture of goodwill and a very exceptional mass disruption of Death's vision of a natural order. The other Reapers expressed concern, not due to fear of the power that they beheld, but due to that very disruption.

"I know you're concerned about what I've just done," Sefira addressed them, "but every Reaper that has ever existed needs to bear witness to the improvements I'm planning."

One of the resurrected Reapers, a female, was briefed by others nearby about the dark essence in their midst, before stepping forward and raising a hand.

"I may have a few ideas on how you can improve our ranks," spoke the female Reaper.

"Whom do I have the pleasure of speaking with?" inquired the Lesser Darkness.

"Tessa," answered the female Reaper.


	13. Instruments Of Death

**Instruments Of Death**

Sefira was impressed by the boldness of the resurrected Reaper known as Tessa. The Lesser Darkness turned her full attention towards her newest acquaintance, who was now directly in front of her.

"Please speak out," she requested.

"If I may be so bold with my first idea," the dark-haired Reaper spoke, "there is a relic in this void that Death hasn't used since the creation of the last of the Rings of the Horsemen, called the Hammer of Death. It is an ancient forge, a gigantic sledgehammer buried deep beneath what looks like nothing less than a boulder. Long ago, God gifted this relic to our ex-boss."

"For many millions of years," she narrated, "Death laboured with his relic to fashion his first deathly creation from deathly substance of a primordial kind: his very own Ring. The hard work paid off, as the Ring doubled his power."

The most powerful created being in existence was not just fascinated by her Reaper's words; she could not help but be allured by such erstwhile craftsmanship. Knowing how powerful Death had been innately, about as powerful as the combined power of those more commonly known as the Archangels, she suspected that his Ring carried the combined power of two of her Instruments of the Darkness. She then wondered if the Ring required a protracted recharge, like each of her five instruments did, for using the higher abilities.

"With his augmented power," Tessa discussed, "Death spent only the next several million years fashioning his next deathly creation, again from deathly substance of a primordial kind: his Scythe."

Sefira surmised that it was this second instrument that lured Death into the extreme belief that he could reap God, long before it was turned against him by one impulsive human.

"But these weapons were ultimately for naught," cautioned the dark-haired Reaper, "as their destruction accompanied, instantaneously, Death's demise."

Indeed, the millions of years spent and the fragility of these instruments mitigated much of the initial allure. The Lesser Darkness just about had enough pondering further about the Ring of Death at this point in time. Coincidentally, her newest acquaintance was done with that lesser subject.


	14. Hammer Of Death

**Hammer Of Death**

Sefira maintained her attention towards Tessa as the latter continued her discussion. The Lesser Darkness looked forward to her newest acquaintance returning to the subject of the Hammer of Death.

"More than all that and the creation of things, the Hammer of Death was used to create beings," the dark-haired Reaper added, "It was used to fashion the first Reapers with ease. It was also used to transform deathly substance of a primordial kind into three of the four Horsemen, again with ease."

Creative thoughts gathered in the mind of the most powerful created being in existence. The conventional conjuration abilities afforded by her inherent being and by each of her Instruments of the Darkness were impressive. The primordial conjuration ability that required almost all her inherent being and the use of all five instruments simultaneously was exceptional. Mastering this would mean she would be capable of creating primordial beings and substances, a feat that until recently had been purported to be exclusive to God, her uncle. Mastering this would mean she would be capable of creating dark archangels of her own, mimicking on a smaller scale what the Darkness, her mother, did for her.

Now, a specialized instrument of creation presented an opportunity for her to perform full primordial conjuration with ease, well before she mastered this alluring ability more formally. The possession of this relic would enable her to create her dark archangels much sooner.

"Why did Death bury this relic?" she queried, already preparing herself for the moment that relic would be free of the boulder.

"To prevent its misuse by those who could bind him," answered Tessa.

"At least I cannot be bound by anyone who is neither the Darkness nor God," assured the dark essence, with her confidence not abated.

"Now that I have discussed with you this first suggestion of mine and its background, I hereby offer to take you to the relic's location," offered the dark-haired Reaper.

The Lesser Darkness accepted the offer.


	15. Of Fates And Employs

**Of Fates And Employs**

Sefira found herself following Tessa, who had offered to take her to where the Hammer of Death was. Shortly into the journey, the Lesser Darkness found herself enjoined telepathically again by the Darkness, her mother.

 _I apologize for this abrupt communication, my dear._

 _Mother, I am not preoccupied at the moment. What has arisen that requires my attention?_

 _Your Uncle told me of three benevolent pagan deities, if one could ever call them that._

 _Benevolent yet not benevolent?_

 _These three ladies have abstained from the abomination of which we spoke earlier, but they oversee the pre-afterlife fates and destinies of all mortals. They are Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos, who have renounced their parochial Greek pantheon and have since worked under the regular employ of Heaven itself._

 _What changed their minds?_

 _Let's just say that your Uncle was quite capable of being akin to a womanizer, well before dating human females as Chuck Shurley._

 _With that scandalous knowledge in mind, were they one-night stands or flings?_

 _They were the latter._

 _Given these, are there any actual demigods, more cousins, whom I should be aware of?_

 _No, and very, very thankfully. Anyway, there is that, plus these three were upgraded markedly so that they would never be tempted to commit the abomination of which we spoke earlier, and so that they could maintain their looks and have more abilities._

 _Does their renunciation automatically spare the Greek pantheon and realm?_

 _No, because their willing and informed renunciation occurred well before the pagan time under the sun came to an end. Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos should not count as benevolent pagan deities for the purposes of holding the Greek pantheon and realm to account, once you are ready to deal with them._

 _So what is to become of them?_

 _Why, their regular employ should be yours, not Heaven's._

 _That makes sense, given what they do for a living. When will their regular employ become mine?_

 _When you are ready for them, my dear._

With that those, this briefing of the Lesser Darkness by her mother ended.


	16. Relic In The Stone

**Relic In The Stone**

Sefira found herself almost completing her journey, still following Tessa, towards where the Hammer of Death was. The Lesser Darkness was surprised not to encounter any wardings or traps along the way.

"For someone who wanted to prevent a specialized instrument of conventional and primordial conjuration from falling into the wrong hands, he sure made quite an investment in deterring adventurers," she observed sarcastically.

"That's our ex-boss, alright," sighed the dark-haired Reaper, "neglecting a lot – period. Ah, this is the place!"

True to the earlier description, the two of them gazed ahead at a boulder so massive that even giants would have called it a boulder. They then saw something high up on the side of the boulder: a long handle protruding from the rock. The entire surface of the boulder then revealed sigils that illuminated.

Not long after, the two beings were caught up to by the countless thousands of other Reapers. The dark essence noticed, before levitating towards the object of her desire.

When Sefira reached the handle and the boulder, she observed the rock more closely. With her insight, she concluded that the entire boulder was in fact a visible representation of all deathly substance of a primordial kind. Due to her enormous power of perception, she could sense a two-way pull between the boulder and the relic, something her newest acquaintance had not informed her about.

In her mind, she thought it was time for the Reapers to cease being in awe of the relic, the boulder, and their two-way pull, and to start being in awe of her intentions and power.

"Now, the power of primordial conjuration belongs to me!" the dark essence shouted.

Then, she grasped the handle with a hand. While her newest acquaintance could only think of the solution in terms of pulling the relic from the boulder, she alone had the unconventional insight to conclude that it was a matter of transforming the two-way pull into its opposite, a two-way push. A stream of darkness travelled from her grasping arm to the relic buried beneath the boulder, while other streams of darkness emanated from her body and pierced the boulder itself.

The moment came at last. The relic and the boulder exerted a two-way push, and instantly became free of each other.

Awestruck, the nearby Reapers genuflected to their new leader, the Lesser Darkness.


	17. Rise Of The Sefirot

**Rise Of The Sefirot**

Sefira, still levitating, witnessed all the nearby Reapers on bended knee before her. The Lesser Darkness wielded her prize, the enormous Hammer of Death, while the sledgehammer itself illuminated with electricity-like currents.

Though she now held the means to create dark archangels of her own, she was concerned about the necessary duration. The Darkness, her mother, was able to create her in what others would deem to be an instant, only because God, her uncle, manipulated time across all Creation to almost a standstill. The latter could not help but take precious time to create his Archangels, because he created alone. There had to be a stopgap measure.

A creative alternative formed in the mind of the most powerful created being in existence. Without touching any deathly substance of a primordial kind, she could use the hammer to push the limits of conventional conjuration within a compressed period of time. This push would still result in her creation of dark celestial beings with enhanced abilities.

The dark essence turned to give considerable thought to their greater scope of active abilities, in all their detail: full biokinesis, full chronokinesis, cosmic awareness, full electrokinesis, advanced healing, mental manipulation, full photokinesis, comprehensive power negation, rudimentary Archangel banishment, full pyrokinesis, shapeshifting, comprehensive smiting, soul reading, full thermokinesis, vessel locking, warding removal, and weather manipulation. Next, she gave considerable thought to their greater scope of immunity: against all fairy magic and all witchcraft, against exorcism by those other than hosts and primordial entities, against smiting by angelic medics, and against reality warping by cambions. Afterwards, she gave considerable thought to their greater combat resilience: against hellhounds, against Leviathans, and against even pagan deities at their peak power.

With her free hand, Sefira caused Tessa and nine other Reapers to levitate towards her, before casting a deep sleep upon them. She then swung her specialized instrument of creation fully at the unconscious beings, yet to the amazement of the conscious subjects still on bended knee, the sledgehammer rested gently upon the unconscious ones, merely sharing its currents with them. She swung her prize repeatedly, remaking the ten beings before her with each swing.

When all was done, each of the ten beings awoke with power greater than that of an angelic seraph, while their dark creator had a new calling for them.

"Arise, Sefirot!" the Lesser Darkness commanded them.


	18. First Emanations

**First Emanations**

Sefira beheld her ten Sefirot rise as she commanded them. While all eleven beings remained levitated, the Lesser Darkness examined the ten, including Tessa, telepathically.

Her first impression of these upgraded beings was that they were her very first emanations. Three of her Sefirot were characterized by the wisdom, understanding, and knowledge inherent in the inanimate natural order. A fourth was characterized by the mysterious kindness supposed to be exhibited by Reapers towards their victims. A fifth was characterized by the might that her new subjects were supposed to have in enforcing their part of the natural order. A sixth, none other than what Tessa herself had become, was characterized by the exotic beauty within each Reaper.

The other emanations were considered, as well. A seventh was characterized by the endurance of the Reapers in performing their duties. An eighth was characterized by the splendour within the natural order itself. A ninth was characterized by the foundation represented by unimpeded Reaper access to Heaven, Purgatory, Hell, the Veil, the Empty, the newly-created Bottomless Pit, and even other realms such as Avalon. A tenth was characterized by the inherent sovereignty, specifically legitimacy, within the Reapers' ongoing fulfillment of their part within the natural order.

The dark essence proceeded to assign each of her ten Sefirot with duties in line with their characteristics. First, she made the first and eighth into the Reaper equivalent of reserve wizards. Second, she tasked the third with keeping souls, deployed Reapers, stationed Reapers, and Reaper instruments all accounted for. Third, she tasked, with a darkly grin, the fourth with mobilizing retaliatory forces to be deployed against rogues and deserters from the ranks; each Reaper had to have the discipline to carry out their functions, up to and including their mysterious kindness towards their victims. Fourth, she tasked the ninth with diplomatic and external intelligence duties in relation to the various supernatural realms. Fifth, she appointed none other than Tessa herself as her personal aide.

Last, but not least, the Lesser Darkness tasked the second, fifth, seventh, and tenth of her Sefirot with leading dedicated forces against hostile obstructions for the regular units, such as those capable of claiming the latter as hosts: specialized supernatural users for the second, fighters or warriors for the fifth and seventh, and every dedicated force overall for the tenth.


	19. Dark Watchers

**Dark Watchers**

Although Sefira's visible grasp of her prize, the Hammer of Death, caused all the other Reapers to genuflect to her, it was only the emergence of the ten Sefirot that enabled her to feel truly crowned by her new subjects. The Lesser Darkness did not need a regal crown on her head to illustrate further her leadership over the Sefirot or the rest of her new subjects; she herself was the regal crown.

Turning to making further improvements to the ranks of her new subjects, the dark essence did not forget their earlier grumblings. More had to be done, for instance, about the odd possession of a Reaper by any of the most powerful demons. She tasked the second, fifth, seventh, and tenth of her Sefirot with combating problems such as these, yet these four Sefirot could only do so much personally.

Briefly, she considered the possibility of upgrading each of her remaining subjects into the dark equivalent of Grigori or Seraphim. This was well within her power to do so, yet she realized that this would be a greater disruption of Death's vision of a natural order than her earlier Reaper resurrections. She persisted with the notion that this intermediate rank had to be greater in number than the heavenly Seraphim. As for naming them, she was fortunate that most of a certain type of angel no longer existed.

With those thoughts in mind, Sefira accelerated, rapidly, all of time throughout the void that she and her Reapers were in. In due course, she would have to learn the greater ability of manipulating time across all Creation to almost, just almost, a standstill. For now, she did what had to be done, with lesser power. She then cast a deep sleep upon many dozens of Reapers and, accompanied by her ten Sefirot as observers, remade each of them with swings from her prize.

When all was done, each of these many dozens awoke with power greater than that of a Grigori and comparable to that of an angelic seraph. Their dark creator had a new calling for them.

"Arise, Dark Watchers!" the Lesser Darkness commanded them.


	20. Strategic Planning

**Strategic Planning**

Sefira beheld her many dozens of Dark Watchers rise as she had commanded them. The Lesser Darkness now had at her disposal her ten Sefirot and these Dark Watchers.

The dark essence left nine of the ten Sefirot to organize the Dark Watchers and the rest of the Reapers, taking her personal aide with her. For her part, Tessa was briefed about what her dark creator had been tasked to do, with respect to the billions of pagans who called themselves deities. The dark-haired Reaper was curious about one matter.

"Why can't we accompany you?" the subject popped the question.

"I have been informed that you Reapers are a known quantity," recalled the dark creator, "and nothing more than that, unfortunately. That means that I alone should move against my targets. Furthermore, I am supposed to pose as each targeted pantheon's pseudo-primordial chaos deity."

Sefira thought about how to fulfill the expected absence of Reapers, while being as flexible as she could about the matter.

"I suppose any of you Sefirot or any of the Dark Watchers could accompany me," she determined, "Your new kinds are not the ones my mother was concerned about. However, those accompanying me would be responsible exclusively for cleaning up and maybe, just maybe, stealth reconnaissance."

The dark creator waved her hand, and in front of her and her aide appeared a three-dimensional map of various pagan realms. Long ago, each pagan pantheon had less than a handful of self-declared deities who possessed minimally enhanced conjuration abilities, specifically the ability to create localized pocket dimensions or pocket universes to contain their respective realms. Such pocket dimensions or pocket universes, although dwarfed easily by those that could be created by primordial entities or by herself, were nonetheless impressive.

The dark essence noted the centrality of the realms of Anduruna, Duat, and Lel, then noted Tian and Takama-ga-hara to her far right, and then noted Omeyocan to her far left. She also noted how interconnected all the pagan pocket dimensions or pocket universes were to one another, despite prideful objections by the respective pantheons.

Strategically, the Lesser Darkness wondered how she could use the interconnectivity to draw all targeted pagan pantheons into some cosmic trap from which they could not escape.


	21. Targets By Type

**Targets By Type**

Not only did Sefira ponder about drawing all targeted pagan deities into a singular cosmic trap, but she also pondered about dividing and conquering them by type, not by pantheon. The Lesser Darkness found unlikely inspiration in what her mother, the Darkness, had experienced recently: sequential assaults by witches, angels, demons, and an archangel.

The dark essence contemplated the different types of these self-declared deities, starting with those of the upper world. She regarded the distant star deities with contempt, perceiving their inability to harness the power of more than a single star at a time, let alone create or destroy such a star. She harbored no more respect towards the mix of immediate solar deities, lunar deities, illuminative deities, and deities of the dawn. She did, however, draw parallels between the sky deities and weather deities, on the one hand, and the collective capabilities of the angels, on the other; the storm deities, wind deities, thunder deities, and rain deities were opponents not to be belittled.

Next, she took note of the parallels between the self-declared deities of the underworld and her own replacement of Death. She was the genuine being for such, while those pretenders were not.

Moving on, she reflected upon the more numerous types of self-declared deities claiming godhood over the human sphere itself. She did a comprehensive evaluation of the deities of the earth itself and of various types of flora and fauna, and she also compared and contrasted the deities of various bodies of water with the deities of fire. She did a more cursory evaluation of the deities of the occupations. She took note of the parallels between some types of deities over abstractions and the Horsemen, while being thankful that the Fates were no longer in the pagan ranks. She reminded herself that she was far greater than any self-proclaimed deity over any other kind of abstraction, and became wary about showing any compassion towards the deities of fertility and love.

Last, but not least, Sefira breathed heavily upon acknowledging that the numbers of self-declared deities were in the billions, precisely because of the great numbers of household deities and other local deities. For her pagan opponents, these numerous beings were the angels to their gods and goddesses.

After all that, the Lesser Darkness settled for a noticeable demonstration of her destructive power upon Anduruna.


	22. Abrupt Summon

**Abrupt Summon**

Sefira could not have chosen a better place to introduce herself and demonstrate her destructive power, so openly, than Anduruna. The Lesser Darkness prepared to visit chaos upon the Sumerian, Akkadian, Assyrian, and Babylonian pantheons, all at once, thereby sending a message of sheer terror to all other targeted pagan pantheons.

For this introduction, she chose to pose as the pseudo-primordial deity Tiamat. Nammu had been an alternative, until it was determined that this Sumerian deity not only gave birth to the main deities, but also came up with the idea of creating intelligent earthly beings. At least Tiamat, of Babylonian origin, created eleven monsters and took the form of a chaotic sea dragon, before being vanquished by an ambitious Marduk.

Suddenly, the dark essence found herself enjoined telepathically, yet again, by the Darkness, her mother.

 _Once again, I apologize for this, but your presence is needed. Explanations will follow._

Sefira notified her personal aide, then allowed herself be teleported back into the place of her very beginning: a bar outside of time. She greeted her two hosts, her mother and her uncle, God.

"Mother, Uncle, I just finished introducing myself to the Reapers," she understated her time with her new subjects.

"Your uncle here," shared her mother, "is about to reunify and repair your bellicose and dysfunctional cousins, and then tell them nothing but the whole truth behind humanity's creation."

The most powerful created being in existence barely contained her enthusiasm, not for her cousins, but for the possibility of defeating them in combat: Michael, Lucifer, Raphael, and Gabriel. She had prepared to unleash chaos upon four pagan pantheons. Now, she had been presented the possibility of defeating a true four-headed challenge: her primordial cousins themselves, with innate power that was mightier fourfold or more than Michael's, supported by augmented power that was mightier fivefold than that of the same cousin.

In her mind, she replayed scenes of these four resisting true primordial chaos eons ago. She focused first on how they softened her mother up for future attacks during the terrible war, then on how they resorted to trickery, and then on their final assault: a dual application of full chronokinesis and combined smiting.

The Lesser Darkness was determined not to fall victim to their trickery, and was determined to have her four primordial cousins fall victim to strategy and trickery of her own.


	23. Mightier Than Whom?

**Mightier Than Whom?**

Although Sefira was capable of obliterating all four of her primordial cousins with a wave of her hand, a snap of her fingers, or another quick gesture, she decided that such instantaneous exercise of power had no potential for strategy or trickery. The Lesser Darkness also heard one word from her mother, the Darkness, which piqued her curiosity.

"Dysfunctional?" the guest expressed surprise.

She knew that Lucifer had been corrupted by the very Mark used to imprison her own mother, but that one word implied problems with her other primordial cousins. She looked forward to being enlightened about all the events that made them dysfunctional. Meanwhile, she could not help herself with her next remark.

"Here I am, mightier than they," she boasted, "just as you are mightier than G-"

Sefira was interrupted and rebuked by her uncle, God. Her first assertion was factual and without any doubt in her mind. Her second assertion was equally factual and without any similar doubt: her dark creator was the older, stronger sister of her uncle, since the former managed to fatally wound the latter despite confronting heavy resistance from created beings, since the former managed to regenerate fully from the toll of the resistance, since the former healed the latter fully and easily of the fatal damage that had been inflicted, and since the former had proven to be of stronger character during the telepathic briefing regarding the billions of pagans who called themselves deities.

Despite those two assertions, she had been rebuked for something more implicit: her uncle remained more powerful than she. Even with all the innate and augmented power at her disposal, her uncle remained quite capable of inhibiting, effortlessly, the power within all her instruments and even within her own innate being. Even if she managed to succeed instrumentally where Death failed with his own Ring, doubling the power within each Instrument of the Darkness without making the latter more fragile – and perhaps even improving the durability of the latter in the process – she and her instruments would remain vulnerable to being inhibited, effortlessly, by her uncle.

"Sorry, Uncle," the Lesser Darkness apologized politely.


	24. Allure Of Greater Power

**Allure Of Greater Power**

Sefira turned her focus from her uncle to her cousins. It was now time for the Lesser Darkness to be enlightened about how all four of them had become dysfunctional.

"Mother," she addressed her mother, the Darkness, "how those who aided and abetted your being locked away have now fallen!"

The two entities of darkness exchanged thoughts telepathically. The younger of the two already knew about the fall of Lucifer, but he alone could not have made all four of them dysfunctional.

Now, the most powerful created being in existence saw in her mind Gabriel, as he fled to Earth and not bothered to share appropriate celestial knowledge with the humans. She respected that this youngest of her four primordial cousins had confronted Lucifer and declared that he was with humanity and against the Apocalypse, yet she had nothing but contempt for his choice of livelihood during the time in between, as it pertained to those she had been tasked specifically to annihilate. The worst thing that could happen for her was to have this cousin sprint towards the billions of pagans who called themselves deities and mobilize against her those pantheons that were not among her targets, aiding and abetting those pantheons that were.

Next, she saw in her mind Raphael, as he lost faith in God, her uncle and his father. She did appreciate his sternness towards the angels, however, seeing it as a worthy example for the fourth of her ten Sefirot. She dismissed his failure to help restart the Apocalypse, then zeroed in on his failure to become the new Lord, as well as on his demise at the hands of another who made a similar attempt.

The allure of greater power touched her dark essence gently once more. This had done so when she contemplated about the highest esoteric abilities afforded by almost all her inherent being and the use of all five Instruments of the Darkness simultaneously. This had done so when she contemplated about the augmented power afforded by the Ring of Death and the fragility of the latter. This had done so when she contemplated about the primordial conjuration afforded easily by the Hammer of Death.

Before allowing this to go too far, the Lesser Darkness dismissed this allure of greater power and returned to her telepathic exchange of thoughts with her own dark creator.


	25. Apocalypse Averted

**Apocalypse Averted**

Having known already about the fall of Lucifer, Sefira requested her mother to skip to the last part, on Michael. The Lesser Darkness, however, was enjoined by the Darkness to focus on the second-eldest primordial cousin and his pawns for their role in the Apocalypse averted.

She moved from insight to mental vision when it came to Death being bound by someone other than her mother or God, her uncle. She also saw in her mind the three other Horsemen and their Rings, created through the use of the Hammer of Death on its boulder. She came away from this vision rather unimpressed, looking forward to replacing the lesser Horsemen one day with dark archangels of her own.

Once she had gained all the insight she needed for this third part, she saw in her mind Michael at last, in all his lack of understanding regarding free will. She did appreciate his rule of Heaven with a primordial fist, seeing it as worthy example for the tenth of her ten Sefirot. Turning to the possibility of her eldest primordial cousin switching roles with her second-eldest, she imagined him empowered by most monster souls in their afterlives and by the appropriate Tablets of the Word of God, and evaluated this as formidable, yet still beneath her.

Her dark creator had already conveyed to her a rather low opinion on the Apocalypse. For all the archangelic power brought into the cataclysmic mix, this affected, at best, the whole of one world. On the other extreme was her mother's ability to destroy the omniverse, true to being the Destroyer. The most powerful created being in existence found her very own ability to cause a cataclysm somewhere within that spectrum, with her innate power being capable of destroying an entire polyverse per cataclysm, well beyond the scale of even the largest galaxy superclusters, great walls of galaxies, and other galaxy filaments. When factoring in her augmented power, she was capable of destroying, per cataclysm, an entire multiverse.

Now armed with intimate knowledge of just how dysfunctional her four primordial cousins were, the Lesser Darkness entertained the possibility that they would not be worth her efforts in combat, as well as the possibility of stoking the worst aspects of their dysfunctional relationship, just by simply pitting them against each other.


	26. Primordial Re-Creation

**Primordial Re-Creation**

Once finished learning more about her four primordial cousins, Sefira learned about what they themselves were about to learn. The Lesser Darkness readied herself for what was to come, while her mother broke the silence.

"Given what we've just discussed, do extend your protection from them to your uncle here," spoke the Darkness.

Those words came as a surprise to the guest. If her uncle, God, remained more powerful than she, then he could surely handle his four dysfunctional sons by himself. She almost concluded that her services were merely a goodwill gesture of reconciliation between her mother and her uncle.

Then again, these were the same primordial beings who had assaulted and tricked her dark creator. Given their dysfunctional relationship, she thought that it should not be unexpected if they redirected their aggressive resentment towards their own Creator, once they learned the relevant matters she herself learned before deciding upon her name: that all men and all women were created in the dual image of her mother and her uncle, that the fundamental balance of light and dark underpinned this image, and that her cousins and ordinary angels could never have the balance represented by this image.

The most powerful created being in existence witnessed her mother take to her true form of a dark cloud, and then manipulate time across all Creation to almost, just almost, a standstill. She also witnessed her uncle take to his true form of divine light, and then go about his work of primordial re-creation.

Next, she found herself observing the bright presence much more intently. Earlier, she had committed herself to mastering the ability of primordial conjuration, even after coming into possession of the Hammer of Death. This observation could not have been a more useful initial lesson towards that mastery.

Slowly, but surely, Sefira gazed at four distinct forms. Two of them were taking shape, while the other two were in a deep slumber. Her eyes were fixed upon her uncle, seeing him repairing the second pair.

Throughout all of this, the Lesser Darkness could not help but be in awe of all the creative work that was transpiring before her very eyes.


	27. Uncle And Niece

**Uncle And Niece**

Once the primordial re-creation was almost finished, Sefira found that she had learned enormously about the specifics and challenges of primordial conjuration, even while observing passively from over at the lounge. Inwardly appreciative of these insights from the divine light, the Lesser Darkness committed to memory the intricate details of how God repaired her four primordial cousins, his four immediate sons.

When the work was just about done, she saw that the four beings remained unconscious. She then saw her uncle assume his human form of Chuck once again. Something was not right.

"Uncle Chuck," the niece broke the silence, "what about Mother?"

Indeed, the dark cloud remained in her true form.

"She agreed to my surprise for all four sons," Chuck replied, "She's remaining in her true form so that she can have a much more inconspicuous presence in this Bar until then."

Then, the Darkness made her presence less obvious, while uncle and niece exchanged thoughts telepathically.

 _Sefira, I'd like to pull a small prank, if you don't mind._

 _Uncle, what does this prank involve?_

 _For now, let's just say that it depends on you remaining where you are at the lounge, and also remaining in your human form._

 _This does not involve debris falling on me or something along those lines, does it?_

 _No, of course not!_

 _Alright, then._

As the niece obliged, the uncle called out to his sons. The latter gained consciousness and opened their eyes, reunified and repaired once more. Greetings were exchanged.

It did not take long before one of them, Lucifer, noticed Sefira over at her spot. This second cousin expressed sarcastic delight at being in the company of an Auntie Amara, which the niece remembered was the name of her mother in human form.

The fourth of the primordial cousins, Gabriel, asked the second one who Amara was.

"The Darkness," Lucifer answered bluntly.

There and then, the most powerful created being in existence realized the full extent of her uncle's prank. It was obvious that the prank had been intended for her four cousins, but only now did she realize that it had been intended for her, as well. Although it did not involve her human form being subject to some physical joke, the Lesser Darkness realized that her human form was the focus.


	28. Mark Of The Darkness

**Mark Of The Darkness**

Although Sefira had been annoyed at her uncle's jab at the choice to have her human form be identical to her mother's, albeit without any Mark on her chest, she turned things around. In the process, the Lesser Darkness felt the urge to pretend to be her own mother, the Darkness, until the latter felt it convenient to appear before their primordial kin.

Playing along, she focused on the second of her primordial cousins, Lucifer.

"Lucifer," she greeted, "I'm flattered."

Instantly, her four primordial cousins readied themselves to fight against her like warriors. A sinister smile appeared on her face, and nothing more. She summoned her wits and prepared to set her cousins against one another by means of a war of words.

In that moment, the most powerful created being in existence noted her surroundings for the purposes of combative amusement, in case her cousins were to overcome her war of words. She noted the advantages and disadvantages of fighting each cousin and combination of cousins in specific areas of the bar. Her uncle, however, interrupted what could have been a spectacular confrontation, by ordering his immediate sons to stand down. Once they did so, she lowered her guard somewhat.

Next, as the uncle stated his intent to share the relevant matters with them, Sefira heard an exchange about the Mark's assignment to, and its effects upon, Lucifer. She already knew about the corrupting effects. With her hindsight, she already knew that these effects were so powerful that not even her own uncle could have resisted them forever, had he taken the Mark upon himself.

Inwardly, however, she thought of nothing but regret towards something else entirely: that the Mark would not have augmented her immensely powerful being. The previous leader of her Reapers, Death, was actually more than capable of reaping any created being who bore the Mark, yet stayed his hand from its bearer only due to his rightful fear of the Destroyer who had been restrained by it. Its granting of immortality paled in comparison to part of her own life force having been dispersed, from the onset, into the very fabric of the primordial basis of dark matter.

To the Lesser Darkness, the Mark simply presented no allure of greater power.


	29. Deception By Exclusionary Detailing

**Deception By Exclusionary Detailing**

Sefira refocused her attention towards the exchange involving her four primordial cousins. Things were going to get more interesting for the Lesser Darkness, as the four of them were about to learn the matters relevant to their visit.

The created dark essence just caught wind of them stating their long-held belief that her uncle had created all men and all women in another dual image: that of God and his angels. Next, she observed her uncle reveal that they were incorrect. She then noted his four sons becoming perplexed, wondering about the origins of the image. What followed caught her off guard, for while she had prepared meticulously for a surprise attack, she had not expected a particular reaction.

The four primordial cousins shifted their gaze towards her.

In that moment, the one who had claimed to be a wise emanation became perplexed herself. One possibility came across her mind, that the created beings of light thought her mother, the Darkness, had the answer. That they still thought the dark being before them was the true primordial chaos herself was an understandable mistake, but their correct indication of thinking that said entity knew came as a surprise to her.

In that moment, the most powerful created being in existence could have just blurted out a simple admission: that she was by no means the most powerful entity in existence. She decided against that option, reasoning that the admission would leave her four primordial cousins with more questions than answers.

In that moment, she could have revealed the answer herself, the one they were looking for. She decided against that option, leaving such revelation to her still-hidden mother and her uncle.

One omissive response did come across Sefira's mind, though. Upon further evaluation, not only did she deem this deception by exclusionary detailing to be satisfactory for both options, but she also deemed it to have a small bonus. Proceeding to utter that response, she raised her hands in innocence.

"Don't look at me," she told her four primordial cousins. Indeed, she was not her mother, and the former had just redirected their inquiry to the latter and to her uncle. In addition, the gestures and tone suggested a request by the Lesser Darkness for her still-hidden mother, the Darkness, to finally make her own dark presence known.


	30. Image Revelation

**Image Revelation**

Sefira could feel it: her dark creator was about to fulfill her implicit request to appear before Michael, Lucifer, Raphael, and Gabriel. The Lesser Darkness looked forward to dropping her pretence of being her mother, the Darkness.

The moment did not come too soon for her, as a dark cloud appeared on the ceiling and spread across it, darkening the bar. She noticed her four primordial cousins quivering with fear, fear of the dark cloud. She then noticed them maintain their terrified expressions while shifting their gaze to her uncle.

Part of the dark cloud then descended beside God, assumed human form, and absorbed the remainder. Meanwhile, the dark emanation became intrigued about the changed physical appearance of her dark creator.

While Amara remained in an adult female form, she had a distinctively more natural appearance. Her hair was a lot less curly, only a bit curly closer to the edges. Also, gone indeed were most of the cosmetics. Her changed physical appearance, in addition to her Mark, was her means of distinguishing herself visually from her daughter.

Answering her nephews' inquiry about the dual image, she answered, "His and mine."

Beside her, Chuck affirmed, "Our image."

Now, Sefira could become a background spectator to the revelation. A discussion ensued, in which her uncle offered disclosures and apologies regarding the dual image. Each of his four immediate sons asked their fair share of questions in between.

When the father finally apologized to his primordial creations of light for his mistake of enjoining them to love humanity more than their own father, Lucifer indicated refusal before going on an intensive tirade. The latter insulted both the former's fascination with the intended balance represented by the dual image and the humans themselves, managing to stir his aunt's temper in the process.

Next, the one-time favourite son repeated almost verbatim the Destroyer's own criticisms, by referring similarly to murderous instances of mass losses of human life. Unlike the latter, however, the former did not seem to grasp a more fundamental problem regarding the divine fascination, for he did not refer at all to his Creator having played with uncontrolled darkness in the process. He then followed up by stating his refusal of the apology offered and by doubling his hostile qualms about humanity.

Angrily, the primordial rebel turned his attention towards his aunt, the Darkness, and towards the Lesser Darkness.


	31. Primordially Overwhelmed

**Primordially Overwhelmed**

As the attention of Sefira was brought back to the fore, she heard her being called out for appearing to be nonchalant over the course of the discussion.

"It's none of my business," snapped the Lesser Darkness, only to be corrected somewhat by her mother, the Darkness. It was not yet the concern of Michael, Lucifer, Raphael, or Gabriel.

In a matter of moments, however, it was revealed to the four of them by her uncle, God, that Death had met his demise, and that they were not suitable for replacing the latter in enforcing his vision of a natural order. The most powerful created being in existence took in her indirect introduction with delight.

Her four primordial cousins were then overwhelmed by the very basic details of Death's replacement being more powerful, more powerful than the four of them combined. They were envious yet terrified to learn that the inherent being of that replacement was at least four times mightier than the mightiest among them. They then learned timidly that the former was augmented by power that was five times mightier than the mightiest among them.

Next, those same cousins of hers learned that there was insufficient substance of primordial creation for their father to create another of them, let alone one with all the powers just described. They eventually learned the alternative substance used: the primordial basis of dark matter. This substance, they themselves knew, was at least a score times more abundant than the substance of primordial creation at its peak. Inevitably, they learned that the Destroyer herself had been aided by the Creator himself to step out of her comfort zone and create from the primordial basis of dark matter.

All this time, while entertaining thoughts of greater power and varying degrees of confrontation, Sefira was trying to understand a new, more personal sensation, one she had felt upon seeing her dysfunctional cousins in person.

"Dears," her mother cooed the cousins, "please give a proper hello to your cousin."

Her four primordial cousins turned their attention from the Darkness to a Lesser Darkness who found herself smiling and waving flirtatiously at them, yet trying to make sense out of these actions and much more.


	32. Opposite Traits, Unrelated Thoughts

**Opposite Traits, Unrelated Thoughts**

Sefira maintained her smile towards Michael, Lucifer, Raphael, and Gabriel, and kept on waving flirtatiously at them. The desire of the Lesser Darkness to understand a personal sensation she had felt upon seeing them for the first time overrode her observation that they did not ignore her Instruments of the Darkness while gazing at her.

Recalling her intimate knowledge of just how dysfunctional these four primordial cousins of hers were, as well as the possibility of simply pitting them against each other in order to stoke the worst aspects of their dysfunctional relationship, the created dark essence went past their pretensions and concluded that, if they were mere humans, they would be beta male adolescents. The first cousin never escaped his reputation as a papa's boy. The second cousin displayed passive-aggressive behaviour and was otherwise perennially in the celestial equivalent of teenage angst. The third cousin, though the consummate problem solver among them, could not escape his chronic orphan mentality. The fourth cousin, with his tendency to avoid confrontation as much as he could, took that to the extreme by exhibiting the behaviour of a teenage runaway.

In short, they exhibited many traits opposite to hers. She, meanwhile, played devil's advocate successfully in relation to her own mother, the Darkness. She was more than bold in achieving her immediate objectives with the Reapers. Also, she never ignored her dark creator. Furthermore, she always prepared herself for confrontation of any sort.

In all this, the most powerful created being in existence realized that, if she herself were a human, she would be an alpha female. Briefly, she considered whether her dark creator would be an alpha female. However, she set aside that question when she realized that her personal sensation was much more important.

Upon returning her focus, however, Sefira found herself bombarded from numerous directions with what she thought were unrelated thoughts. Regret was one such thought: that she dismissed the conversations around all but the last of her uncle's apologies as none of her business. Existential contrast was also such a thought: that she was of the primordial basis of dark matter, while her four cousins were beings of light. Gratefulness was another such thought: that she would never be directed by her mother to love humanity more than herself.

An additional thought which the Lesser Darkness thought was unrelated entered her mind.


	33. Sensations Aroused

**Sensations Aroused**

In addition to regret, existential contrast, and gratefulness, another thought which was thought to be unrelated entered Sefira's mind. The Lesser Darkness loved her mother, the Darkness, yet there was the very human possibility of loving celestial offspring of her own more.

Overwhelmed, the created dark essence tried to put all the seemingly unrelated thoughts together. For a while, she struggled; regret, existential contrast, gratefulness, and motherly love were like the most distant pieces of an enormous puzzle.

Meanwhile, it came to her realization that the personal sensation she had felt upon seeing Michael, Lucifer, Raphael, and Gabriel for the first time seemed familiar, even though she never felt it at all before. She then realized that the familiarity must have been based on preternatural insights imparted by her mother. Hastily, she cycled through those insights like flipping through a book. It did not take long before some words came to her attention.

 _I missed you, and the… sensations you arouse._

Her mother had been attracted towards the human who had freed her, however inadvertently, and who had purposefully given her what she needed most: to be family again with God. Sefira delved a bit further, if only to confirm, and recollected her dark creator kissing that human.

Just as the human aroused sensations of attraction in her mother, the four primordial cousins aroused sensations of attraction in the created dark essence. All at once, she had her procreative awakening; she desired for them to be her everlasting mates. All at once, everything made sense.

By fulfilling this, she could have celestial offspring of her own to love more than her mother. Likewise, her everlasting mates could love those same offspring more than their father.

By fulfilling this, she and her everlasting mates could procreate a dual image of their own: a synthesis of primordial light and the primordial basis of dark matter. Far from being like the Nephilim, the immediate offspring would better represent the fundamental balance underpinning all of Creation, that of darkness and light. Furthermore, the same offspring could reproduce within the human gene pool to improve it.

By fulfilling this, she could demonstrate that, while the nothingness of her dark creator could not be reproduced, her own essence could.

By fulfilling this as the feminine alpha, the Lesser Darkness could help the four masculine betas mature from their psychologically adolescent states of mind.


End file.
